Dana White has a message for the fighters on his roster — accept the fights you’re given or you may not have a home in the UFC anymore.

That’s the word from the UFC president after he reached a breaking point with rising star Yair Rodriguez more than a week ago that led to his release from the organization. While the two sides eventually came to an agreement to bring Rodriguez back into the UFC, White says that he’s sick and tired of fighters trying to hand pick opponents rather than taking the matchups that are offered to them.

“Listen, I get into these things where this is the fight business and the UFC is the elite of the elite in mixed martial arts. You get into these situations where you get these guys that don’t want to fight certain people. If you don’t want to fight certain people, this probably isn’t the place for you,” White said on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast.

“I’m looking for people that want to be world champions that want to f–king fight the best in the world. If you’re not that guy, then there’s plenty of other places where you can go and make money. This place isn’t for you.”

In fact, White teased that Rodriguez won’t be the last fighter who gets cut as a result of his new personal policy when it comes to matchmaking in the UFC.

“That’s what I’ve run into with a few guys. You’re going to see more of it. There’s more coming today. I’m not f–king around anymore here,” White said. “If you don’t want to fight, don’t sign here. If you want to hand pick fights, don’t sign a contract here. This isn’t the right place for you.Yair Rodriguez at UFC 211 Media Day

“Look at Darren Till…Darren Till just fought [Stephen] “Wonderboy” Thompson. “Wonderboy” Thompson was ranked No. 1 in the world and he took that fight. Guess what happened? It was a really close fight, the judges gave it to [Till] and [Thompson] went from No. 1 to No. 3. Nothing massively devastating happened to his career. He’s still a top three guy in the world. But you have to be willing to fight anybody.”

White says these problems didn’t exist as much during the old school days of the UFC but it has become more common place in recent years.

That’s why he’s sending out the message to every fighter on the roster to accept the matchups given or it could lead to receiving your walking papers.

“You’re here to fight and you’re here to become a world champion. If that is not what you are here for this is not the place for you. You can go many other places. They’re paying guys great money out there right now and a lot of times you can go out there and make more money than you’re making here. Knock yourself out. That’s where you belong. You don’t belong here,” White said.

“When you’re in a position where you turn down fights and you don’t want to fight this guy or that guy and all this other s–t, all I can say is you better keep winning.”

Unless your name is Diaz, Woodly, or Conor. Then you can do what ever you want.

philphan wrote:Unless your name is Diaz, Woodly, or Conor. Then you can do what ever you want.

Or Bisping.

When the fuck did Bisping ever turn down a fight? UFC wanted to cash out on the the Hendo rematch and when you are offered the Goat and golden goose in GSP you are not going to turn that down because some fucking hardcores in forums cry out that he is not the number one contender. For fucks sake Bisping went to freaking Brazil to fight TRTVitor when every mw was ducking him, he gave up his title shot to fight a wrestler in a 3rounder named Chael Sonnen (got robbed by the way), he took every fucking no name tough guy the UFC wanted to build off him when they thought he was done as contender. He always worked his way up as contender with winning streaks through the trenches unlike many loved cats in the sport that get contender or title fights after losses and /or ped failures. Most importanly he knocked Cuckhold the fuck out in the first in two weeks notice to become the champ.

philphan wrote:Unless your name is Diaz, Woodly, or Conor. Then you can do what ever you want.

Or Bisping.

When the fuck did Bisping ever turn down a fight? UFC wanted to cash out on the the Hendo rematch and when you are offered the Goat and golden goose in GSP you are not going to turn that down because some fucking hardcores in forums cry out that he is not the number one contender. For fucks sake Bisping went to freaking Brazil to fight TRTVitor when every mw was ducking him, he gave up his title shot to fight a wrestler in a 3rounder named Chael Sonnen (got robbed by the way), he took every fucking no name tough guy the UFC wanted to build off him when they thought he was done as contender. He always worked his way up as contender with winning streaks through the trenches unlike many loved cats in the sport that get contender or title fights after losses and /or ped failures. Most importanly he knocked Cuckhold the fuck out in the first in two weeks notice to become the champ.

"My knee is too injured to fight Jacare....but I will fight Woodley, Nick Diaz or GSP"

I give Bisping all the credit in the world for fighting everyone. The dude had balls.....before he was the champ....after winning the title he fought 2 puffed up welterweights and a 46 year old middleweight who was 2-4 in his previous 6 fights and went 2-1 against them (would have been 0-3 if the Hendo fight was judged in any other system than the outdated and incompatible with mma 10-9 must system.)

When you say you are too injured to fight the top contenders but healthy enough to fight a litany of welterweights that you yourself have brought up...well.....yeah....

philphan wrote:Unless your name is Diaz, Woodly, or Conor. Then you can do what ever you want.

Or Bisping.

When the fuck did Bisping ever turn down a fight? UFC wanted to cash out on the the Hendo rematch and when you are offered the Goat and golden goose in GSP you are not going to turn that down because some fucking hardcores in forums cry out that he is not the number one contender. For fucks sake Bisping went to freaking Brazil to fight TRTVitor when every mw was ducking him, he gave up his title shot to fight a wrestler in a 3rounder named Chael Sonnen (got robbed by the way), he took every fucking no name tough guy the UFC wanted to build off him when they thought he was done as contender. He always worked his way up as contender with winning streaks through the trenches unlike many loved cats in the sport that get contender or title fights after losses and /or ped failures. Most importanly he knocked Cuckhold the fuck out in the first in two weeks notice to become the champ.

"My knee is too injured to fight Jacare....but I will fight Woodley, Nick Diaz or GSP"

I give Bisping all the credit in the world for fighting everyone. The dude had balls.....before he was the champ....after winning the title he fought 2 puffed up welterweights and a 46 year old middleweight who was 2-4 in his previous 6 fights and went 2-1 against them (would have been 0-3 if the Hendo fight was judged in any other system than the outdated and incompatible with mma 10-9 must system.)

When you say you are too injured to fight the top contenders but healthy enough to fight a litany of welterweights that you yourself have brought up...well.....yeah....

DANA WHITE FRUSTRATED WITH KELVIN GASTELUM AFTER ‘PERSONAL ISSUES’ STOPPED HIM FROM FIGHTING AT UFC 225

Last weekend at UFC 225, Gastelum was apparently on deck to serve as the replacement for the main event should middleweight champion Robert Whittaker or challenger Yoel Romero not be able to fight.

As it turns out, Romero ended up missing weight and while the end result was a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate after a five round war with Whittaker, it seems Gastelum should have been ready to step in as a last minute replacement.

That’ts according to White, who then revealed that Whittaker had some serious personal issues that prevented him from taking the fight and it obviously left the UFC boss less than happy.

“He should have been the backup here tonight when this all went down,” White said when speaking at the UFC 225 post fight press conference. “He couldn’t do it. He’s got some personal issues that he seriously needs to take care of.

“Some s–t that he needs to get together and handle quick.”

White didn’t expand any further on what Gastelum had going on that prevented him from fighting but it was obviously enough that it kept him out of a world title fight on Saturday night.

Gastelum could be the next contender in line for the title following his win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in May but there’s no telling what direction the UFC will go now considering White’s issues with the former ‘Ultimate Fighter’ winner.

It may not matter right away as Whittaker is nursing a broken hand suffered in the fight with Romero and he’s not expected back until later this year.